Finding a career where you can align your interests, abilities and values with the organization and job is ideal. Working a dead-end job, or in a position that doesn't mesh with your skills and interests, can be stressful and frustrating. For many people, the answer is to make a career change. The challenge is knowing where to begin.

Assess the Right Career

To avoid chronic job-hopping, the best place to start a career change is with an assessment of your career aptitudes. You can find vocational battery tests online or through local temp agencies. An effective career profile evaluation offers insights into the right career fields and positions based on what you like, your talents and your preferences in an employer. It is also very helpful at the onset of a new career exploration to uncover and learn about your core values as they relate to work. If you take on a high-stress job, or one that doesn't provide the family balance you desire, you'll probably be in the same boat after a few months or years.

Build Company and Job Lists

Once you get an inkling as to the nature of the careers you desire, the next step is to develop a list of companies and positions you want. You can rank or prioritize your list by employer so you conduct your ultimate job search in the right way. Prepare an updated resume, conduct a skills and weaknesses inventory, and submit a cover letter and application to employers you prefer to work for the most. In some cases, you might find job postings on the employer's site or on a job board. Often, though, you need to network with contacts and acquaintances in the industry to learn about the hiring process.

Develop Skills

In some cases, you need new or refined abilities to transition into a more desirable career. This requirement is what prompts many adults to finish a degree or continue their education. If you don't want to quit your current job just yet, you can take evening and weekend classes while still earning a full-time income. Volunteer work and training workshops are other ways to develop technical and soft skills. Alternatively, you can seek out an entry-level opportunity in the field that lets you gradually build expertise in your new career.

Make the Plunge

After developing the requisite skills and experiences, it's crunch time. Once you mentally commit, it is time to submit those resumes to targeted employers and prepare yourself to sell your expertise in interviews. When progressing upward in the same career, you usually create a chronological resume that highlights your most recent work history first. However, when shifting to an entirely different career field, a functional resume often makes more sense. With this format, you highlight transferable skills and newly acquired technical abilities first, rather than your chronological work history.